Archive for the 'Stanley Cup Finals' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

The Register sent three of its interns to cover the Kings' Stanley Cup parade on Thursday at Staples Center with the assignment to capture the color of the moment.

So they attacked the assignment with cameras and notebooks in hand. They returned with some great photos and some surprising comments from Kings' fans … well, maybe not that surprising. Some of them used this opportunity to take a shot at the Ducks.

“Let's put it this way, we made the Stanley Cup championship more legit than Anaheim did five years ago,” said Christian Allen, 23, of Gardena. “Let's put it this way, they had like 5,000 people in their parking lot, we got a parade going between 5th and Figueroa all the way down here.

“They're probably expecting more than a couple 100,000 people coming down here. To all the Ducks fans out there, look at what we got. Go Kings.”

Having a credential not only allowed the Register to cover the Kings' run to the Cup but it also got us behind the scenes – at least as far as the NHL would allow. Armed with a modest camera and a cell phone, this intrepid reporter thought he'd show you some of those scenes along with the moments and the people that made up the fight for the silver chalice.

LOS ANGELES -- Swept up in the emotion-filled atmosphere that surrounded him as he stood on the Staples Center ice, Dustin Penner found a moment of clarity as he reveled in the Kings' Stanley Cup triumph Monday night.

Five years ago, Penner was on the Honda Center ice holding up the Cup with then-linemates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The big winger has now become the first NHL player to ever win titles as members of both Southern California rivals but he also didn't want to diminish what he was part of back in 2007.

"It was unbelievable run to be able to do it with those guys," Penner said. "Teemu. Nieds. Prongs. Jiggy. Getz. Pears. Everybody there. I probably didn't appreciate it and fully understand it, being my first year and probably thought every year would be like that.

"Now being able to win it a second time, it makes you really appreciate it. For me, I won't take it for granted ever again."

The Stanley Cup has barely started its days with a different King and we're already talking about who will win it in 2013. That's how things are done in this age. Always look forward.

The 2011-12 NHL season has barely been put the bed and there's odds, courtesy of Bovada, on who will hoist the Cup next June. Not surprisingly, the champion Kings -- with many core pieces under contract -- are being listed as one of the favorites.

But it is the Pittsburgh Penguins who are listed as the 7-1 favorite. Yes, the same Penguins who imploded against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals and are now coming off consecutive first-round exits.

The Kings are the second choice at 11-1 followed by the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings all at 12-1.

Meanwhile, the Ducks are dealing with rebounding from their worst season since 2003-04. But the Bovada oddsmakers aren't so down on them as they're listed at 25-1 along with Washington and Tampa Bay, right behind San Jose at 22-1. Are the Ducks worth putting a few bucks down? (Note: We're not encouraging betting but if so, please be responsible.)

The New Jersey Devils all were insistent that these Stanley Cup Finals were not over even when everyone else -- including yours truly -- seemed to think so.

Turns out, they were quite right.

Thanks to their 2-1 victory over the Kings in Game 5, the resurgent Devils got to make their cross-country trek back to the West Coast and are now instilling some concern into a team that has lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of the regular season.

The talk now isn't about whether the Kings can make history after their amazing 15-2 postseason run until Game 4 but if they'll be able to finish the Devils and win the Cup in front of their title-starved fans.

Anze Kopitar delivered the honors for the Kings in Game 1. Jeff Carter repeated it in Game 2.

Carter scored at 13:42 of overtime to give the Kings another 2-1 victory over New Jersey in the Stanley Cup Finals and a commanding 2-0 lead as they edged even closer to their first championship in franchise history.

It was Carter's fifth goal of the postseason and the biggest of his career to date. Coming to the Kings from Columbus in a key deadline trade move, Carter beat Devils goalie Martin Brodeur with a low shot on his stick side.

Now two wins away from the Cup, the Kings are 10-0 on the road in these playoffs and have won an NHL-record 12 postseason games away from home. Kopitar provided a 2-1 win in the Finals opener with a breakaway goal in overtime.

Jonathan Quick stopped 32 shots to improve to 14-2 in the postseason, strengthening his bid for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player. Brodeur made 30 saves.

The Ducks became the first California-based team to the win Stanley Cup and also gave their fans the ultimate comeback to end any argument with fervent supporters of the Kings.

"WE'VE GOT A CUP! WHERE'S YOURS?"

You can't really top that one. Unless you've won the last one.

The Kings are in the Cup final for the first time since 1993. They're 12-2 in these playoffs and are the first team to win their first eight road games in a single postseason. At this point, it's hard not to think that they can pull off four more against the New Jersey Devils.

It just might be the worst nightmare for a Ducks fan, who had to suffer through his/her team's worst season since before the lockout. Yes, it still took the Ducks only 13 years instead of four-plus decades but that argument rings a bit hollow if the Kings are suddenly the defending Cup champion.

Dustin Penner won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 and he'll get a chance to win another with their rival in 2012.

Penner lifted the Kings to their first Cup final in 19 years when he scored with 2:18 left in overtime for a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night at Jobing.com Arena.

It will be the Kings second chance to play for the Cup in their 44-year history. In 1993, the Kings lost to Montreal in five games.

Penner ended a tense, emotion-filled when he jumped on a loose puck in the slot and banged it past Phoenix goalie Mike Smith after Smith had made a save on Jeff Carter. The big winger had won a puck battle in the offensive zone and got the puck to Carter to set up the sequence.

On the shift before, the Coyotes vehemently objected to a hit by Kings captain Dustin Brown on Phoenix's Michal Rozsival that was not penalized and knocked the defenseman from the game.

UPDATE: The Anaheim Ducks are offering four tickets to Corey Perry Night Oct. 16 at Honda Center against St. Louis as part of the giveaway at the Register Insider Q&A tonight. There are still a few open seats left for the event.

Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin will participate in a 30-minute Register Insider Q&A with fans on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at The Orange County Register (625 N. Grand Ave., in Santa Ana).

The Q&A will be followed by an autograph session and chance to win a four-pack of Plaza Level tickets to a future Anaheim Ducks game.

Beauchemin will share his thoughts on his 10-year professional career, the 2006-07 Stanley Cup season, rejoining the Ducks in February and expectations for the upcoming season. The Register's sports columnist Jeff Miller will moderate the event.

LAS VEGAS -- In a seven-day span, Tim Thomas has hoisted the Stanley Cup a few times, rode in a parade through the streets of downtown Boston, taken his Conn Smythe Trophy to Fenway Park to throw out the first pitch and found his way here to potentially pick up some more shiny hardware.

Ah, the spoils being a Cup champion and ending the Bruins' 39-year streak without one.

"It's fun because you just won the Stanley Cup," Thomas said Tuesday at the NHL awards ceremony media session. "To win the Stanley Cup, it takes so much energy. Physical. Emotional. Mental. It's not so much anything that happens afterward as it is the fact that you don't get time to rest. And being a 37-year-old guy, I appreciate my rest.

"It's been exhausting but well worth it. I wouldn't trade winning the Cup for a little bit of sleep right now."